Benúdia

Short story writer, poet, and visual artist. Mário Lopes Guerra, his real name, completed his secondary education in Luanda, after which he joined the civil service. An activist in the struggle for Angola's liberation, he was arrested several times by PIDE/DGS (the dictatorship's political police) – the first time in 1959 – before his country's independence. He participated in the movement of young Angolan intellectuals grouped under the Sociedade Cultural de Angola. He contributed to Cultura II (Luanda, 1957-61), Jornal de Angola (Luanda), Mensagem (from Casa dos Estudantes do Império, Lisbon), the «Artes e Letras» supplement of A Província de Angola (Luanda), Voz do Trabalhador (Luanda), O Brado Africano (Lourenço Marques), and the magazine África: Literatura Arte e Cultura (Lisbon). He is represented in Contistas Angolanos (Casa dos Estudantes do Império, Lisbon, 1962), Poetas Angolanos (Casa dos Estudantes do Império, Lisbon, 1962), and Literatura Africana de Expressão Portuguesa, vol. I, by Mário de Andrade (1967).